You write, share, curate and promote content with the goal of increasing engagement. Then, when you get that engagement, you endeavor to respond to it correctly.

Content marketing only works when people respond to your content in a positive way. So, what happens if your engagement campaign leads to crickets, eyerolls or decidedly negative responses?

Here are seven signs that you should rethink your audience engagement strategy:

1. Your surveys and other content aren’t getting responses.

It’s one thing to have a post go ignored, or a social media update that doesn’t get much attention. That happens to the most successful brands. However, if you’re reaching out directly to your audience with surveys, polls or other direct queries, and getting no response, this is a clear sign that your style isn’t connecting.

Sometimes, it’s not your entire strategy that’s at issue. It’s just one part of it. If your engagement on Facebook is fine, for example, but your audience response on YouTube is lagging, it may be time to revisit things. Remember that every engagement channel is unique, and you have to work out the best way to adjust your style for each without abandoning your branding.

3. The engagement you are getting is superficial.

Likes and upvotes are nice, but they’re ultimately pretty meaningless. In fact, Facebook likes aren’t correlated to further business engagement at all. The process or liking or upvoting a post is a quick, easy and often knee-jerk reaction. It doesn’t reflect any real endorsement or interest. If this is the only engagement you’re getting, that could be a problem.

4. Established customers are no longer engaging.

It can be challenging to create an engagement strategy that empowers you to reach out to new customers and to stay on trend, while also keeping your existing customers on board. Loyal customers often feel as if they’ve become afterthoughts as brand content seems designed for new customers and prospects only. Remember that it costs five times more money to attract a new customer than it does to nurture existing relationships.

5. You’re using their data for marketing instead of engaging.

You can do a lot with big data. You can take the information you have on customer demographics, website analytics, customer purchasing history and more to use for a variety of purposes. One of these is marketing, but customers are also keenly aware when they’re being targeted.

If you’re collecting customer data for marketing, that’s fine. Just know that you could lose engagement and create some resentment if that’s all you’re doing. Instead, try using the data you gather to inform the content you create.

6. Your onboarding efforts aren’t attracting eyeballs.

Customer onboarding is an important part of any engagement strategy; it’s your way of helping to ensure that customers are as successful as possible when they use your products or services.

Customer onboarding might include instructional videos, webinars, training sessions, even maintaining regular communication, as a way to check in with your customers. If these efforts are successful, you can turn regular customers into loyal ones, power users, and brand ambassadors. If not, you may need to rethink your outreach strategy.

7. Your engagement metrics are on the decline.

There are engagement metrics that do matter. If these have gone down significantly, there could be an issue with your engagement strategy. Are people watching your videos, sharing your posts, and backlinking your content? Those are all good signs that you are on the right track.

If your content isn’t doing its job, do a content audit and figure out what isn’t working and what needs a heavier investment. Remember that content marketing is a long game and your gains will take time to show up in your bottom line.